An endocutter is a surgical tool that staples and cuts tissue to transect that tissue while leaving the cut ends hemostatic. An endocutter is small enough in diameter for use in minimally invasive surgery, where access to a surgical site is obtained through a trocar, port, or small incision in the body. An exemplary endocutter, with true multi-fire capability, is the MICROCUTTER™ brand endocutter proposed by Cardica, Inc. of Redwood City. That device is described in, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/851,379, filed on Sep. 6, 2007, published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0065552 on Mar. 12, 2009 (the “Endocutter Application”), which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The MICROCUTTER™ brand endocutter achieves true multi-fire capability through staple-on-a-strip technology, where staples are frangibly fixed to a feeder belt and sheared from the feeder belt during deployment, after which the feeder belt is advanced to place another set of staples in firing position. Each feeder belt may be slid about a nose located distally within the staple holder, where the nose may be a curved surface or pulley. In this way, two sections of the feeder belt may be generally parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another substantially the same distance as the diameter of the nose, to facilitate motion of the feeder belt through the staple holder and/or through a shaft connected to the staple holder.